Your Ancestors in Volhynia and Poland from 1700 to 1900: How They Got There and How They Lived

1. Your Ancestors in Volhynia and Poland from 1700 to 1900:How They Got There and How They Lived William Remus Emeritus Professor of Information Technology Management University of Hawaii SJHS 1962 LMC 1964 UM 1967 MSU 1974

2. Cosponsors • St Joseph Public Library • American Historical Society of Germans from Russia – Berrien County Chapter • Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe • Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies (Annual meeting is at the Milwaukee Radisson Hotel on July 24th and 25th - German Fest Weekend)).

3. Presentation Online at • www.remus.shidler.hawaii.edu

4. Remus? • Rem (pronounced Rehm) = Saxon clan name for those who punch holes (in people using spears). Lots of Rem in Bavaria and Saxony from 1300. • -us A Latin suffix added by those with the church and universities around 1500 (very fashionable). The name links Remus directly to villages near Dresden, Saxony.

6. Agenda • Follow the trails of the Germans migrating out of Germany into Poland and Volhynia • Talk about how they lived and why they migrated.

7. Where is Volhynia?

8. Where are the Germans?

9. Where are the Germans?

10. Where are the Germans?

11. (Hinter) Pommern • Lightly populated initially with Wends and Kashubians • Gradual inflow of Germans inland for farming • Cooperative arrangements withWend and Kashubian nobility • Merged later with East Prussia, Brandenburg, and Silesia to form Prussia

12. Where are the Germans?

13. Where are the Germans?

14. Conditions in 1720 • The Swedes fought the joined Russians, Poles, and Prussians across northern Poland. • The Swedes lost but more than one third of the Poles died. • The Polish nobility recruited Germans to fill the jobs of the deceased Poles – these were mostly on manorial farms.

15. Life on the Manorial Farm

16. Life on the Manorial Farm

17. Who Is The Top Dog In The Manorial Village? • Schulz - village head • Farm Workers (inheritable, irrevocable work contracts)* • Farm Workers (annual work contracts)* • Millers and Krügers (grain processors and brewers)* • Blacksmiths and craftsmen * • Schoolmasters* • Day laborers * • Shepherds* • Household laborers and maidservants. (* grew their own food in a small garden)

18. Soon the manorial farms were fully manned and the nobles devised a better way to make money. Namely, take vacant land and allow a German to recruit farmers and establish a village (and pay rent, usually in rye).

19. Life in the Non-manorial Village

20. Life in the Non-manorial Village

21. Who Is The Top Dog In The Village? • Schulz - village head • Farmers (inheritable lease) * • Farmers (annual lease) * • Millers and Krügers (grain processors and brewers)* • Farmers who were also blacksmiths and craftsmen * • Farmers who were also schoolmasters * • Day laborers * • Shepherds * (* grew their own food and clothes)

22. What Did They Grow? • Rye? yes • Hemp? yes • Flax? yes • Potatoes? Yes after 1750 • Livestock? A few

23. Flax (Linen) and Hemp • Grow flax and separate the grain from stem • Berries provides oil, breakfast, and fodder • Immerse stem in water until casing breaks • Separate out dry fibers • Spin into yarn (and dye?) • Weave into Cloth • Wear or Sell • (Involves whole family)

24. Who is the Best Wife? • Thin and beautiful girl? no • Big Bones and Strong Girl? yes • Young girl (for example, 16)? yes • High School Graduate? Not available • Second Cousin or a Relative? yes • Girl from family in the same job? yes • Girl from big family? yes

25. Where were the children baptized in 1750? • Lutheran Church? No, bannned • Catholic Church? yes • They weren't baptized? no

26. Good Retirement Planning • Have healthy male children? yes • Have a healthy spouse? yes • Be healthy yourself? yes

27. The small farmer had a house, outbuildings, land for a small garden, and land for cash crops such as rye, barley, or oats in the old days (and potatoes since 1750). Also hemp and flax for clothing. The small farmer also had access to the commons. The small farmer would pay his rent in grain. • To be successful, the farmer needed a capable wife to share the tasks and children. • The farmer’s male children were his social security.

28. Who Dispensed Justice? • The families involved themselves? • The lord of the manor if manorial farm? • The schulz (mayor)? • All the above

29. Why did everyone know the date that Saint Martin’s birthday was celebrated (November 11)? • The day you paid your landlord and prepared for winter.

30. Now let’s restart our journey to Volhynia

31. Migrations 1700 to 1772

32. Where did this pre 1772 wave come from? • Saxony • Neumark • Silesia • Pommern • (Saxony was known for its flax growing and Silesia for its weaving)

33. Why was Poland Partitioned? • Because Russia, Prussia, and Austria wanted more land? • Because the Polish government was malfunctioning? • Because there was religious oppression of non-Catholics? All the above.

34. 1772 First Partition of Poland

35. Third Partition of Poland1794

36. Prussia recruited Germans for the areas gained from the Partitions • Recruited widely in 1772 and 1795 • Some incentives provided • Good success in 1795 attracting Germans from Wurttemberg, Bavaria, and Saxony • Initial homesteads often were inadequate

37. Now an expanded view of Prussia, Russia, and Austria in 1795 (and no Poland)

38. Austrian and Russian Poland 1795

39. Some areas of Poland given to Prussia were incorporated into Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw (1807 to 1813).So some German farmers in Prussian Poland suddenly found themselves in the Duchy of Warsaw.

40. Napoleon's Poland 1806 to 1815

41. Poland after Congress of Vienna 1815

42. Some areas of Poland given to Prussia were first incorporated into Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw (1807 to 1813) and later these areas became part of Russian Poland.So some German farmers in Prussian Poland suddenly found themselves in Russian Poland.

43. Germans in Russian Poland

44. Continuing German Migrationinto Russian Poland ca 1820 When Russia took over central Poland, many of the Polish and Russian nobles began to set up and recruit Germans for cloth making villages on their land (and collect rent). This was particularly true in the sandy region of central Poland like around Lodz. (Flax grows well in sand).

45. 1831 Migration to Volhynia • In 1831 the Polish rose up against the Russians. This made life unsafe for Germans and destroyed the market for their cottage industry cloth. • The nobility in Volhynia invited the cloth makers to set up industry there.

46. Where did the 1831 migration to Volhynia come from? • These folks seem mostly to been cloth makers from Russian Poland, particularly from cloth-making areas in central Russian Poland. • These folks were previously from Prussian Poland cloth making areas (that is northern Poland). • They were more previously drawn to Prussian Poland from cloth-making areas in Wurtemburg, Silesia and Saxony soon after the partition.

47. Germans in Russian Poland

48. Consequences in Prussian Poland The uprising of 1831 made the Prussians become concerned about Prussian areas of Poland. Thus, many German settlers were brought into Posen and West Prussia areas.

49. 1863 Migration to Volhynia • In 1863 there was another and nastier Polish Uprising. The Russian troops suppressed it. • Meanwhile, the serfs had been freed in Volhynia and they left the manorial farms there. So the nobles began to sell the land causing a much larger migration.

50. Where did the 1863 migration come from? • They came from Russian Poland seeking safety and farm land to purchase. • They also came from areas like West Prussia and Pommern where the land was fully farmed and available only by lease.